§ 35. Mr. de Freitasasked the Secretary of State for Air how many officers of the rank of air vice marshal and above there were in the Royal Air Force to every 1,000 officers and men and women of other ranks on 1st September, 1959, 1949, and 1939, respectively.
§ Mr. W. J. TaylorThe figures are 0.574, 0.460 and 0.356. They take into account officers serving in other Government Departments and in international headquarters as well as those serving in purely R.A.F. posts.
§ Mr. de FreitasIs the Under-Secretary aware that, even if we recognise the need for senior officers at N.A.T.O. and other international and inter-Service posts, these figures seem very disquieting? Does not this continued inflation of the rank reflect on the Service itself?
§ Mr. TaylorThe number of air marshals naturally varies with the responsibilities as well as with the size of the Royal Air Force. For example, officers of air vice marshal rank and above are needed for posts outside the Royal Air Force itself, in N.A.T.O. and in Government Departments. There are ten officers filling such posts at the moment, compared with only two in 1949. The relative strength of officers of that rank to the strength of the Force is continually under observation.